


cheep cherry wine

by Betyouwatchthesunsettoo



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alex is stubborn, Internalized Homophobia, Mention Of Homophobia, Mention of Death, Or People, Road Trip, Slow Burn, alex gives henry a hug, and they were ROOMMATES, collage AU, david is there, henry gets drunk on cherry wine, henry need a hug, i added the warning but it not that graphic, like a really long hug, lowkey really happy about this, no beta we die like men, not any main character death but is somewhat important, or as slow as my inpatient ass can do, or women, point is there is no beta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:34:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29256789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betyouwatchthesunsettoo/pseuds/Betyouwatchthesunsettoo
Summary: Henry gets drunk on cheep cherry wine and Alex want to know why
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, June Claremont-Diaz/Nora Holleran
Comments: 12
Kudos: 36





	1. Babe, there's something so lonesome about you, something so wholesome about you.

**Author's Note:**

> hello, it is i again, uhmm, i got this idea a while ago and i wanted to start developing it so here i am, i hope you enjoy it and happy reading!

Alex has never really been one for taking the easy path, he likes complex things, he likes challenges and he never backs down. 

His current roommate was just leaving, a small boy with sandy brown hair and tons of freckles. At first he seemed like the type of person he would get along with but after he came drunk the other night and was shouting homophobic slurs, Alex had to get rid of him. He didn’t really feel bad for kicking him out, he was rude and overall a horrible person. The only problem now was he needed to find a new roommate, and he needed to do it quickly, apparently working as a waiter doesn’t really pay the bills. 

He has been interviewing people for a week now and none of them seem like the right fit, he always found something that didn’t really feel good for him, and it’s not like Alex is a picky person, he loves people, he really does but he doesn’t want to make the same mistake again. So when June says he might know someone that could be a right fit he says yes straight away. He will always trust June's judgment. 

“ what do you mean you technically don’t know the guy?” Alex asked, June had invited him over to her flat she shared with Nora to discuss his new roommate. 

“ Well, Pez, you know Pez, I thought he needed the place but turns out it is a friend of Pez, and it looks like he is really desperate-”

“ I don’t care how desperate he is! I am not inviting a stranger to live with me! And i don’t even know Pez that well” Alex cries out 

“Alex come on, look he know almost no one in town, expect for Pez, and Pez assured me he won’t bother you at all-” she paused, and looks at him in the eye “ Alex, please, Pez, told me he’s got sort of a shitty family history and he need to get away from his family, at least let him stay until he figures out what to do” 

Alex is not heartless, he knows the feeling of wanting to escape home life. 

“ yea, alright, he can stay, I need the money anyways” 

\----- 

Alex spends the next few days cleaning every corner of the apartment, He changes the bedsheets of the guest-room, stocks up the fridge and makes space on the bathroom cupboard for Pez 'friend to store his stuff. It’s weird, Alex thinks, he never did this for the other people that lived here, he thinks he is doing this cause he feels pity on the guy, but he doesn’t think too much into it. 

He is fluffing the pillow when the bell rings. He pauses, takes a breath and walks up to the door. 

“ Alexander! Darling, hello, it so lovely to see you again” Pez greets, he shakes Alex hand

“ Hi, yes, please come in” Alex steps aside to make way for them. While Pez is entering he notices a boy, around his age, next to him, he figures he is the one staying with him. 

“Hi i’m Alex '' he extends his hand and lets it fall down once he realises he is not getting a response back. 

“ Henry” the guy mumbles and he looks up to meet his eyes and Alex can’t help but think 

oh fuck. 

Alex has never seen such beautiful eyes, they are blue, and yes okay that is not such an amazing description but he doesn’t know how to. They are blue and dull, but in a way there seems soulless, like if there was a spark a long time ago that died. And as previously stated Alex likes challenges and he was to know what made that spark, that was clearly there, die.


	2. No better version i could pretend to be tonight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> henry comes home drunk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there is mention of alcohol and Alex is worried about henry

Alex can’t really complain about Henry, he is quiet, he cleans up after himself and he is rarely home. He really doesn’t know much about Henry, it’s mostly trivial things,really.

He knows Henry likes tea over coffee in the morning, he knows he likes to listen to piano, and that he plays it too, he knows that henry’s favourite sweater is that deep green that is one size too big on him, he also know that henry wakes up every day at the same time no matter what he is doing, he know that henry does do much sleep at night and he know he likes Jane Austen. But he barely knows Henry. He doesn’t know what henry is studying or if he finished university already, he doesn’t know where he goes most afternoons, and he doesn’t know what causes henry to cry at night. And the thing is,,, he wants to know. He really does. He wants to know how he can help stop that crying and he wants to know every single thing about Henry, he doesn’t know why. A small voice in his head that sounds very similar to Nora’s says that it might be because he is crushing on Henry, but he is not, is he? 

Alex has been waiting for Henry to come back from wherever it is that he goes, he really doesn’t know why, he keeps telling himself it's because he doesn’t want to lose a good roommate but deep down there is that voice that sounds a lot like Nora saying that is because he really likes Henry. But he shuts Nora up. So he is waiting, a cup of coffee on his hand, his laptop on his lap with a forgotten assignment opened up. It’s 2 in the morning, and Henry is still not home. The food he made for dinner is growing cold,he doesn’t know why he did dinner for Henry, he blames his guts. David, Henry’s dog is waiting next to him, he has grown fond of him. He is scratching David’s ear when he hears the door open, he looks up. Henry looks like hell, in a very good way. His shirt is all wrinkled, his jeans are stained, his hair looks like he pulled on it too hard and his eyes. His eyes are bright and read and glossed over with what he assumed are tears. 

“ Henry” Alex breathes out, and he can finally breathe, he thought something bad happened, he is never out this late, not that Alex knows. 

“ Alex, i didn’t think you would be up” henry looks up and his words slur together, he’s been drinking. 

Alex quickly walks to where Henry is, a blanket in hand, and wraps it around henry. He slowly guides him to the couch 

“ you’re wet,” he didn’t realise it was raining and by the look in Henry’s eyes neither did he “ here have used this, you’ll catch a cold” he takes off his hoodie and helps Henry take off his shirt and change into it. He poignant makes sure he doesn’t look at henry’s chest 

“ am i? I didn’t know it was raining” he pauses “ you smell nice, you smell like safety” 

Alex doesn’t know what to say so he points out the obvious,

“ you are drunk” 

“ i am, very good observations Alex, it’s cherry wine” Henry is slowly crawling into Alex lap, clinging to him like a koala, and next thing he knows Henry is crying, like really crying and Alex doesn’t know what to do, he just hold him for a while until Henry cries reduce to small hiccups. 

“My gran called” Henry whispers before falling asleep, in Alex’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed this and hoping to update next week! 
> 
> comments and kudos are very loved here!!!
> 
> lots of love and take care <3


	3. Cause there's no better love that's laid beside me. There's no better love that justifies me, there's no better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might trigger some people so please be careful before reading it, There is talk about toxic relationships and death. 
> 
> this is the most angst you'll ever get from me

Alex woke up with Henry clinging to him, right now he seemed the most peaceful he’s seen him in weeks. He doesn’t know what he is feeling right now, but seeing Henry this way so soft and unguarded makes him feel some kind of way. He wants to touch his hair, he wants to know what it feels like when he runs his finger through it, it seems soft. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t run his hand through Henry's hair, instead he carefully unclinges Henry from him and lays him on the couch. He stands up and leaves a glass of water and two aspirins on the coffee table. He figures he can shower after classes, has nothing with the fact he doesn’t want to wake up henry. 

Alex wants to say he had a successful day, he halfway paid attention in class, he handed in his essay and he for once feels confident in his work. He met up with Nora and June for lunch, he found out they are dating which he should have known when he found them laying in bed together one afternoon, but he thought they were just tired and cold. Point is he is happy right now, he’s got a coffee in his hand and Mexican take out, he bought an extra portion in case Henry was home, and he is on his way to his apartment. What he doesn’t expect is to hear Henry yelling at someone, he knows it’s wrong to listen to someone's conversation but he can’t help but wonder if this is the reason why he came home drunk yesterday. 

“Henry, Babe, listen to me- “ a man's voice, which Alex doesn’t recognise says. 

“ i don’t want to listen to you, i don’t care-”

“ it was an honest mistake, how was i supposed to know you were going to get mad!”

“How? How! You slept with her! You slept with her, when we were supposed to be in a committed relationship!” Henry yells, his voice seems on the verge of panic, but Alex can picture him standing his grounds 

“What else was i supposed to do! You wouldn’t do anything with me”

“ my grandmother called me to tell me she was going to die! And that she hates “my kind”, excuse me if i didn’t want to have sex with you” 

“ Well that isn’t my fault Henry! It is your fault, you made me do it,-”

“ I made you do it? Laurent I came to cry to you and you were in bed with her!” he can hear Henry crying and he feels like now is a good time to intervene, he doesn’t like hearing Henry upset. 

When he walks in, Henry is facing him, eye full of unshed tears, chin out, his hands clenched together and he is shaking. He turns to what he assumes is Laurent, he wants to punch the guy, what kind of asshole cheats on a person like Henry?   
“ alright buddy, leave” Alex walks to the door and opens it for him 

“ Henry who is this?-” he turns to Alex “ i am not leaving.-” he turns to Henry “ Babe tell him I am not leaving” 

Henry jolts out his chin out more “ don’t call me that” he turns around and goes to his bedroom door. 

“ Alright man, out you go, thank you for stopping by, horrible first impression by the way” Alex is aware he is pushing out Laurent out the door, and that he is feeling way to happy about the guy leaving, and that he had felt a relieve that Henry isn’t with that asshole anymore. 

“ but-” Laurent is trying to get Alex’s hand off his shoulder but he had already slammed the door on his face. 

Alex put down the food on the table, and he doesn’t know what to do. Should he go see if Henry is okay? Is he allowed to do that? Alex doesn’t know. Right now he thinks he will make a list while he changes into something more comfortable. 

Alex list 

1.Henry is sad 

2.He’s been sad for a long time 

3.Alex wants to know why 

4.Alex might be catching feeling for henry 

5.Henry’s Grandma is evil 

6.Henry likes cherry wine

He goes over to Henry door and knocks, he waits for an answer before talking

“ Henry? You there?” His voice is soft, and he has his hand on the door handle. He waits another second before adding “ i’m coming in” 

He’s never been inside of Henry’s room, but something about it screams comfort. The walls, he realised, are all covered with posters; from David bowie to, poems, paintings. He has books stacked on top of each other everywhere, from classic literature to current best sellers. In the corner of the room there are paintings and canvas, next to a desk where there are even more books, most of them annotated. He has plants everywhere, and there on the center of the bed, is henry, he is curled up into a tight ball. Alex walks to the bed and sits down on the corner, he feels like he is invading a personal space, and places a hand on Henry’s shoulder 

“ henry, hi, i have food” he feels henry’s body turning to him and he wasn’t prepared for the look of utter brokenness in his eyes

“ is he gone?” his voice is rough like if he had been screaming for a long time, he realises he still is wearing the hoodie he gave him last night. He hand the plate to Henry, enchiladas verdes. 

“ yea, he left after you came in here” Alex turns so he is facing him now, he pauses a second, notices the bottle of wine next to his bed, and asks “ who was he?”

Henry’s entire body freezes up and his fork drops on his plate. Alex mentally hits himself with a baseball bat. 

“ you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, we can always eat in silent or i can leave” he rushes out 

“ no i do want to tell you,,, stay” henry takes a deep breath and places his food down. 

“ I met Laurent a while ago, back in high school, my father had recently died, and my family thought it was best if you moved to the US for a change in scenery. I was lost on my way to lit class and he helped me out. I had recently discovered I was gay and he was just so open about his sexuality i couldn’t help but admire him,,, he asked me out after a few weeks and it went great he was funny and everything i imagined. Until he asked to meet my family,,, it was a disaster, my mum was still in the aftershocks of my fathers death, and my brother thought he had to take the role of the man of the family. My gran told me it was a disgrace to my whole ancestry. He broke up with me. Until last year, I saw him again and he convinced me that he was scared and that he knew better now that he was ready to start again. I needed to get out of my house so I moved in with him. Here in New York, I applied for college and all. And we were okay, he used to leave a lot but i wouldn’t question it, he basically convinced me that I was worth nothing without him and that i was stupid. Pez got me out of there and said that I needed to stop seeing him. So I moved in with you, we were still together, but the other day after my gran called me, I went to his apartment and he was in bed with a woman, he told me that it was my fault he was there and that it wasn’t the first time. And well here I am, recently broken up, pathetic right?” 

Alex wants to scream at him to shut up and he wants to hug henry and never let him go, and he wants to wake up to Henry every day and remind him he is an amazing extraordinary person. Because he isn’t pathetic, is strong, so strong and he want him to know that 

“ Henry you are the bravest person i have ever met, i hope you know that” he whispers instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed it and as always all kudos and comments are loved here!
> 
> lots of love and take care <3

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed it and i'm hoping to be constant this time in updates and i'll see you all later!
> 
> lot of love and take care! <3
> 
> and any sort of feedback and comment is always appreciated


End file.
